The Bitter Kingdom

Elisa, a fugitive in her own kingdom, faces great challenges to rescue the man she loves from her enemies, prevent a civil war, and take back her throne but as her magic grows, Elisa discovers the shocking truth about her enemy's ultimate goal.

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This was a thrilling conclusion to The Girl of Fire and Thorns trilogy. Through this book, we are taken on a roller-coaster ride as Elisa fights to save her country and make peace with the enemies. One of my favourite things about this trilogy is that it steadily gets better and better through each book. After the first book, I kept myself open-minded because I wasn't immediately drawn into the story. When I read the second book, I immediately noticed that the writing was considerably better than the first book. Lastly, as I read The Bitter Kingdom, I found that I could absolutely not put down the book. Elisa and her friends are constantly on the move, the plot was constantly surprising me, and literally the action never stops. All the main characters were important to the story and no one felt pointless. The only thing that I can say is that at times, I missed the older Elisa. In this book, Elisa seemed a little too strong and perfect. The older Elisa who had her moments of uncertainty and doubt felt more relatable and realistic to me. All in all, this book was spellbinding and brilliant.
- @Lumos of the Teen Review Board at the Hamilton Public Library

What an amazing ending to an incredible trilogy! Often, YA trilogies seem to lose their luster and momentum as they go on. The first book is usually amazing, with the second and third book far from the quality of the first. However, this series didn't. Elisa is still trying to find her way, but she has definitely grown as the queen she was meant to be. She definitely feels the weight of her responsibilities, but she faces each threat to her kingdom with courage and sense. Highly recommend!

All the books in this series are excellent. Unusual plots with lots of intrigue. Well paced and a mature, well developed writing style that allows that the reader is intelligent. Satisfying ending which ties up most of the threads in the plot.

Woah-my-wowzah! There was so much happening in this book! Like, there was about three different storylines! In 1 book!! I mean, everything turned out so perfectly!!!!!!! I'm so happy! And Elisa! She was so powerful and awesome and just amazing and it was all because it was HER who was great, not just her Godstone. Ugh, so much goodness I don't know what to even say. But Hector and Elisa!!!!!!!! XD

Very well-done conclusion to the Fire & Thorns trilogy. The gender politics in this were GREAT in a totally non-preachy way, which I appreciated; I also appreciated Elisa's continued development. Too many trilogies give their protagonists a great arc for book 1 and then allow them to stagnate for the rest of the series, but that's not the case here. Elisa's journey as a queen truly spanned all three books. The whole trilogy was solid YA fantasy that I'd recommend for fans of Graceling and Throne of Glass.

echo3abc
Jul 13, 2014

FANTASTIC! I rarely find a trilogy that doesn't have at least one book slower or less interesting than the others. Rae Carson's trilogy, however, is a riveting, fast paced and beautiful story through all three books. None of them disappointed me. Each one takes Elisa on a new journey, and yet she continues to grow into a stronger and wiser woman and queen. Readers who love strong female lead characters will really enjoy this. And the love story is very beautiful and touching. And I loved the ending!!!

JewelMcLatchy
Mar 14, 2014

Wonderful wrap-up to the trilogy. Strong all the way from start to finish, in terms of more character growth, new plot twists, provides an actual firm ending...Very solid finish to this interesting series.

*This review contains spoilers for those who have not read the 1st and 2nd books* This series just got better with each installment. There is true character growth, even for the secondary players. Book 3 takes us to the heart of the enemy in Queen Elisa's quest for peace and to reclaim her land, not to mention her delicious relationship struggle with the commander of her guard, Hector. There is depth to the relationships in this compelling series paired nicely with political intrigue, a spiritual magic, and an epic journey.

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The Bitter Kingdom by Carson Rae is action packed, suspenseful, a romantic page turner. With all these elements the book would be enjoyable to many people. The Bitter Kingdom is the third and last book in a series called The Girl of Fire and Thorns. It ties the series together well and the story fills in a lot of plot holes and ties loose ends very well. The beginning of the book starts slow and is hard to understand if you haven’t had the time to read the previous books but it makes more sense as it goes along. If you haven’t read the other books it isn’t all that necessary. The story of this book fills a lot of story points that you could only understand from the other books. It however also has its own gripping plot and the fours allies at the start of the story are intriguing and develop well as the story goes along. The many genres in the novel also makes it a page turner. The book goes from suspense to action to romance in a matter of pages. I personally liked the story centered on Elisa the main character and how she had to get stronger physically and emotionally to overcome the many trials and obstacles she had to overcome. Without giving away too much Elisa goes through great deals of pain but finds a way to overcome her struggles with the help of her friends and allies. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in fantasy novels but it also offers a great deal of variety to its genres so its hard to say who I wouldn’t recommend it too as well.